BOOK REVIEW: Summer fare with a punch

“Bittersweet” is a story of an outsider driven by a dangerous desire to fit into a world of privilege.

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By Dana BarbutoThe Patriot Ledger

Wicked Local

By Dana BarbutoThe Patriot Ledger

Posted Aug. 2, 2014 at 6:45 AM

By Dana BarbutoThe Patriot Ledger

Posted Aug. 2, 2014 at 6:45 AM

“Bittersweet”

by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Crown, $25). Grade: B.

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“Bittersweet”

by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Crown, $25). Grade: B.

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A lot of summer books are breezy beach reads, but Miranda Beverly-Whittemore’s “Bittersweet” ups the ante. Her story of an outsider driven by a dangerous desire to fit into a world of privilege (think Gatsby) has all the sex and secrets typical of summer books. But “Bittersweet” packs a bigger punch.

Beverly-Whittemore tells the story of the sometimes infuriating Mabel Dagmar, the studious and frumpy protagonist who is invited by her wealthy roommate, Ev Winslow, to spend the summer at Winloch, her family’s sprawling Vermont estate. A New England summer of first love, friendships, fireworks, midnight skinny dipping, tragedy and digging up family dirt ensues.

The soap opera Beverly-Whittemore has fashioned is sometimes implausible and predictable, but the author is relentless in its telling, leaving clues on every page. While the Winslow family mystery fuels the story, the connection between Mabel and Ev centers it. Theirs is a creepy “Single White Female” dynamic. Ev is the spoiled-brat rich girl and Mabel the poor friend from the wrong side of the tracks desperate to enter Ev’s world. Ev is totally unlikable, but that doesn’t make her uninteresting. Sociopaths are always entertaining. On the other hand, Mabel elicits underdog allegiance. You might love her one chapter, hate her the next, but you can’t help but root for her, despite her twisted and selfish agenda.

The rest of the Winslows are a beguiling cast of characters with affluent names such as Luvinia, Galway, Birch, Tilde and Bard. They’re pretty one-dimensional. Each has his or her specific function to drive the plot and add to the mystery at the book’s core. It’s up to Mabel – and you – to connect all the dots.